After silently cursing Miss Liu in his heart, Pony Ma finally spoke.
"President Liu, you've successfully secured Dr. Qiu, the crucial pillar. I assume the Dragon Chip project is officially setting sail now? Can you give me, an early investor, a little insight into the specific plans? You can't really let my ten million... oh wait, now I might have to add another hundred million for Huahong... go down the drain, right?"
"Honestly, in all my life, this is the first time I've been fleeced like this."
Liu Yutong smiled faintly. "Rest assured, President Ma, that hundred million you invested in Huahong won't be a loss. Just consider it a diversified investment; not putting all your eggs in one basket should also give you a sense of security. As for Dragon Chip, with Dr. Qiu joining us, we've merely solved the problem of who will lead the effort. What comes next is the real tough battle."
"The initial ten billion in funding is basically in place. Policy negotiations over in Lucheng will start within a week, and the main provincial leaders have already expressed preliminary support. With financial and policy backing, hardware issues like land, infrastructure, and supporting facilities won't be major problems."
"It seems President Liu has a well-thought-out plan."
Pony Ma sighed, "In that case, should I consider diverting a bit of that hundred million meant for Huahong over to Dragon Chip? After all, there's a difference between those close to us and outsiders."
Liu Yutong continued to smile, "Speaking of which, President Ma, seeing as you are so actively supporting the Dragon Chip enterprise and even making additional investments, I've decided to return the favor and give you a gift."
Pony Ma was taken aback. "A gift? What kind of gift?"
He certainly didn't think Liu Yutong would suddenly give him anything good; he just hoped it wasn't a shovel meant to dig a hole for him.
Liu Yutong said, "I heard your company's gaming division has recently been in contact with a small North American game developer called Riot, looking to invest in or even acquire a MOBA game they are developing, right?"
Pony Ma's heart skipped a beat, and his expression changed slightly.
This was one of Goose Games' highly confidential overseas expansion projects. The contact and negotiations had been conducted in secret. How did this woman know?
"President Liu is very well-informed. There is indeed such an intention. Why, is President Liu interested in games too?"
"I wouldn't call it an interest."
Liu Yutong waved her hand and said, "However, my overseas investment team happened to see the potential of this project, so they also got involved and drove up the price a bit."
"I just thought about it, and gaming isn't my main business after all. Plus, since you've been so supportive of my Dragon Chip, to show my gratitude, I've decided to have my people withdraw from the bidding for Riot Games. I wonder if President Ma is satisfied with this gift?"
Pony Ma's face instantly darkened.
No wonder!
No wonder the negotiations with Riot hadn't been going smoothly, and no wonder the other party was holding so firmly to their price. They had been negotiating from last year to this year without closing the deal. It turned out it was because of an interloper like you causing trouble!
"Liu! Yu! Tong! So you've been the one playing tricks behind the scenes all along? I was wondering why it was so hard to negotiate. It turns out your people have been driving up the price and tripping me up this whole time!"
Liu Yutong looked innocent. "President Ma, you can't say that. Business competition is all about relying on one's own abilities. I only participated after reasonably evaluating the project's value. Isn't my voluntary withdrawal a sufficient show of sincerity?"
Pony Ma snorted in anger, but as he calmed down and thought about it, Liu Yutong's voluntary withdrawal cleared the biggest obstacle to his acquisition of Riot, and she truly hadn't brought up any additional conditions.
Although this gift came with a bit of frustration, it was undeniably a substantial one.
Their company was determined to win Riot and the 'League' project; it was crucial for Goose's gaming empire strategy.
"You... you really are... sigh, I concede to you, President Liu. This isn't giving a gift; this is beating someone up first and then giving them a piece of candy, and making me have to thank you for the candy."
"You flatter me, President Ma."
Liu Yutong smiled radiantly. "So, shall we turn the page on the Riot Games matter? Let's talk about the advertising for the recommendation spots your QQ is giving our Weibo... can you give us a discount? ...How much? ...A huge discount... bah, just give a good discount..."
After just a few minutes of chatting, Pony Ma couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Strange, it's the middle of winter, why am I sweating so much?"
.............
Magic City, inside a certain government conference room.
An internal meeting regarding the focus of high-tech industry investment promotion for the second half of the year had just concluded.
The city's top administrative leader and the administrative leaders of several major districts did not disperse immediately; instead, they continued to chat about the investment promotion situations of their respective districts this year.
After getting a general understanding of the situation, the top leader casually mentioned a piece of news he had recently heard.
"I've heard some rumors that a new project has been circulating in the circles recently, something called Dragon Chip. They say they're going to pour ten billion into chip manufacturing. Do any of you know about this?"
The leader of the Eastern District, sitting on the left, was taken aback when he heard it was a chip project and quickly asked, "Ten billion? That's no small endeavor, leader. Where is this capital coming from? Is the background clear?"
The two major chip manufacturing enterprises currently in Magic City, Zhongxin and Huahong, were both located in his Eastern District. This was his core industrial signature and an important foundation for his political achievements.
Now, a Dragon Chip project with a potentially even larger investment had suddenly popped up right under his nose, and he was completely unaware of it?
But no matter what, he had to fight for this project with all his might; he absolutely could not let the benefits flow to outsiders.
There are benefits to industrial concentration, right? It definitely wasn't because of political achievements.
The top leader put down his teacup and shook his head. "I've only heard a bit of a rumor myself. The specific situation is still unclear, but it's being talked about so vividly, it shouldn't be fake, right?"
There was a brief silence in the conference room as the district leaders exchanged glances, each with their own thoughts.
Just then, the leader in charge of the Southern District, sitting diagonally opposite Li Weiguo, coughed lightly.
"Well, hearing the leader say this, I actually recall something too. A couple of days ago, when comrades from our district's investment promotion bureau were following up on a foreign investment project, they seemed to vaguely hear something from the other party mentioning this Dragon Chip. It is said that the lead is a very young female investor surnamed Liu. She recently snatched Dr. Qiu Ciyun right out from under Huahong."
"Qiu Ciyun? I know this person. When Zhongxin was founded, he was one of its founding members. Later he left Zhongxin. Huahong submitted a report to us a while ago, hoping the district would assist in bringing him in. How did someone snatch him away?" the Eastern District leader asked.
"That's why this project is not simple at all. I had my colleagues at the investment promotion bureau look into it from the sidelines. Although this Dragon Chip project hasn't officially landed yet, it has already completed its first round of fundraising, a solid ten billion, which is more capital than your district's Zhongxin raised initially," the Southern District leader said meaningfully.
"Really ten billion?"
"Is it really cold, hard cash?" The head of the East District could no longer sit still.
The head of the South District nodded. "The investors include several domestic internet giants, a few top-tier private equity firms, and foreign funds. Leading the charge is a local investment firm named Pearl Capital."
